Friends and Enemies, Old and New
by freakyfan3754
Summary: Aeris disappears & the rest of the Seventh Heaven crew attempt to find her, but things are turned upside-down when a mysterious spell is cast on Zack and Cloud. Somewhat AU. Apologies for the extremely short chapters--most of my stories have been oneshots
1. 'Where the heck is she?

_Where the heck is she?_ Zack wondered to himself as he stood outside the church. His delivery route crossed paths with Aeris' flower-selling route that day, so they had decided to meet at the church around noon and go grab lunch somewhere. But it was almost two o'clock and she still hadn't showed. Zack sighed impatiently, remembering that he couldn't call her to see what was up. _That girl really needs to get a phone_, he thought. It then occurred to him that perhaps she had been waiting inside, and so he entered.

"Aeris? You here?" he called, glancing around as he walked in. Zack stopped in his tracks at the sight of the flower wagon in one corner of the room. It was normal for Aeris to come in once or twice during the day to reload; what was not normal was for the wagon to be turned on its side with its contents spilled on the floor and its owner nowhere to be seen. Zack hurried over to it to have a look. The first thing he spotted was a hair ribbon hanging off of the handle—the pink one that he had given her. He picked it up and stared at it in his hand; he knew that Aeris always kept it tied securely and would never take it off on purpose. Something wasn't right. His eyes widened further as he noticed a tiny bit of blood on one corner of the wagon. Something definitely wasn't right. Then he saw a white rag hanging off of one of the wheels; he picked it up out of curiosity. As he looked at it closely he caught a whiff of something and recoiled. He recognized the scent from his training days—chloroform. _Shit…_ He looked up and stared off into space, closing his hand around the ribbon and the rag. Then he turned and hurried out of the church, and back to Seventh Heaven.

* * *

Tifa saw Zack come in the door out of the corner of her eye as she finished a long clean-up from the previous night's bar fight. "Hi Zack," she greeted him cheerfully. "How'd lunch go?"

"The only lunch I want is behind that bar," Zack grumbled, eying the bottles. Tifa looked up at him with a questioning look. He slapped the two items down on the counter. "Aeris never showed." He told Tifa what had happened.

"Oh man…" said Tifa.

"Yeah," said Zack, sitting on one of the stools. "So do you think you could open the bar early for me?

Tifa stepped behind the bar and looked him in the eye, saying, "Don't you think you should be out looking for Aeris rather than sitting here getting drunk? What's gotten into you?"

"I know…it's just that when we first came back I said I'd protect her and since then she's gotten kidnapped twice. Hell of a job I've done."

"Don't blame yourself…Oh what the hell am I saying? I told Cloud the same thing for two years and _he_ never listened." Tifa put a small glass down in front of Zack. "All right, one drink, but that's it."

"Thanks… Tifa, do you think Aeris—" Zack was interrupted by the slam of the door swinging shut as Cloud entered.

"Done early today," he said as he came over. By the looks on Zack and Tifa's faces he could tell that something was wrong. "What's up?" he asked, looking from one to the other.

"Have a seat, Cloud," Tifa said. Cloud did so, and his friends filled him in on the situation.

"Damn…" said Cloud. "So…what's our plan?" He looked up at Tifa, as did Zack; they hadn't particularly thought of one yet.

"Well, I guess we'll start from the beginning," Tifa replied, keeping her voice calm. "Zack and I can go back to the church and see if we can find any more clues. Cloud, maybe you can scout out the surrounding area." The men nodded as she spoke to them.

"It's a start," said Zack. He finished his drink and the three friends headed out.

When they reached the church they split up as planned. Cloud went off elsewhere and Zack and Tifa entered, the plan being for him to start at one end of the room and her to start at the other. But before they could go anywhere, they saw another strange sight. There was a third person in the church. A short woman with reddish hair was kneeling in amongst the flowers with her back to Zack and Tifa. Zack took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak, but Tifa stopped him with her arm, seeing as how the stranger seemed to pose no threat. Then they both quietly moved forward, peering at the woman with curiosity. They saw that her hands were folded and she seemed deep in thought, as she did not seem to notice them. As they came around either side of her, Zack couldn't believe his eyes. He recognized the face plainly—a face that he never thought he would see again.

"Cissnei?"


	2. Cissnei

"Cissnei, is that you? Never thought I'd see _you_ again. What are you doing here?" Zack asked. She just stared at him. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he added with a smirk.

"Z-zack? It can't be! No, you're supposed to be…I mean, they said…" she shook her head rapidly, looking away. She hadn't exactly thought that she would see _him_ again, either.

"Ahh, I just love messing with people," said Zack, turning back to Tifa. Every reaction to the fact that he was alive amused him.

"Zack Fair, you are evil," Tifa said, arms folded in mock annoyance.

"Zack Fair…" Cissnei repeated, standing up and walking over to him slowly. "Who'd have thought." She softly poked him in the shoulder, as if she thought her finger might go straight through.

"See?" said Zack as she looked up at him. "No ghost." Then suddenly she jumped up and hugged him. She squeezed her eyes shut and held on tight for a few moments before letting him go.

Tifa stared. "I take it you know her?" she asked.

"Oh, right, uh, sorry," said Zack. "Cissnei, this is Tifa, she's a good friend of mine. Tifa, Cissnei. She's a Turk—"

"Former Turk," Cissnei corrected him, as the women shook hands.

"Former?" asked Zack.

"Yes."

"Well anyway, don't worry, she's one of the good-guys," Zack said to Tifa. "She tried to help me and Spiky escape when I busted us out of Shinra."

" 'Tried' being the operative word," Cissnei muttered. "Nice of you to remember though."

"Hey, back then you were the closest thing I had to a friend that wasn't stoned out of their mind by mako poisoning."

"Zack? Tifa? You guys find anything yet?" called Cloud from the doorway.

"Spiky, I love your timing," Zack said without looking back.

"The other sample made it too?" Cissnei said in surprise. "Well done, Zack."

"Hey, give the kid some credit. He did alright for himself while I was gone." Cissnei looked at him in confusion, not entirely sure what he meant by 'gone', but didn't ask.

Cloud came over to his friends, slightly impatient. "Have we met?" he asked the woman.

"Not really. Last time I saw you you were unconscious. I'm Cissnei."

"Cloud." He shook her hand and then turned to Zack. "So can she help us?"

"I'm standing right here," Cissnei said to Cloud with mild annoyance. "Help you with what?" she asked Zack. Zack's face fell as he remembered why they were here.

"It's Aeris — she's missing," he replied. "We think she might have been kidnapped, or worse."

Cissnei's eyes widened, then she put her hand to her forehead and looked away, as if suddenly remembering something. "Phase One…" she murmured.

"Wait, what? Do know something we don't?" asked Zack.

"I-it's a long story. But they said Phase One was kidnapping the flower girl."

"Who said? Phase One of what?" Zack pressed. Cissnei looked nervous.

"Please, Cissnei," Tifa said, a little more calmly, "we don't have any clues of our own yet. If there's anything you can tell us, it would really help."

"First of all, who are 'they'? Do you know?" asked Cloud.

"Yes…it's a group of rogue ex-Turks called STORM. They're relatively small, but dangerous—kind of like AVALANCHE, really. "

"So, do you know anything about a Phase Two, Three…?" asked Zack. "I mean, do you think they could have killed her by now?"

"I really doubt it," said Cissnei. "These people take their time."

Zack stared at her. "You mean like, torture?"

"Oh no, no, not like that," she said, shaking her head. "I mean, they're just used to not getting caught, because they used to be Turks under the protection of Shinra. So they still go about things very lazily."

"Lucky for us…" said Zack.

"So how do you know this?" asked Tifa.

"I.…used to be one of them," Cissnei replied. Everyone looked at her, puzzled.

"Until…?" Zack prompted her.

"Until this mission," she answered, hanging her head. "Joining them…it seemed like such a good idea at the time. We…we were going to break away from the company, start going around and doing _good_ things, the things that needed to be done that no one else would do. Then it all just kind of went downhill—devolved, somehow. Now they're nothing but a bunch of mercenary punks who'll do anything for a lousy gil. I've been realizing it in the last few months."

"But it was this mission that really changed your mind?" Zack asked.

"Partly because of you, Zack," Cissnei said, looking up at him.

"Me?"

"I remembered who the flower girl was. We Turks were keeping an eye on her once because she was the last of her kind, remember?" said Cissnei. Zack nodded. "I kept asking the guys in STORM why it had to be her but they only said something about doing what they were paid to do, and told me that if I wasn't with them I was against them. I knew she was going to get hurt and I didn't want to have anything to do with it, because I remembered you and how much you loved her before you died. So I left. I guess I've been doing a lot of quitting lately. I just don't know where to turn anymore."

"It's not quitting, Cissnei," Zack said gently. "In fact it's the opposite. You're sticking to your guns. You've got a good heart."

"I guess that doesn't get you very far these days," Cissnei replied sadly, shaking her head. "I mean, you would know that better than anyone. I had so hoped that we'd get to you before the army did. By then I…I secretly _wanted_ you to escape, and to…to have a life…"

"Really?" said Zack, touched.

"I was angry at first," Cissnei went on. "Then I tried to forget about the whole thing. But you really opened my eyes, Zack. As Turks we had always just been running Shinra's errands, or covering Shinra's tracks. And the one time we tried to do something good—" she looked up into his eyes, tears welling up in her own "—we failed." Zack put his arms around her comfortingly. "So one morning I woke up and realized that it had been two years since you died," she continued. "And I couldn't think of one thing that we had done in that time that was really worth anything. All the things that I had been realizing just kind of came to a head. I ended up having a big fight with Tseng. He threatened to fire me but I…I already had my resignation in my hand," she admitted, eyes downcast. "Actually he did me a favor after that. A couple of weeks after I left I got a voice message from him. He told me that in reality no one quits from Shinra, and that he told them I was killed on a mission. Then he said we would not be speaking further, and told me goodbye and good luck."

"Wow…" said Zack.

"So unless a dead woman can turn in a dead man, your secret's still safe with me," she ended with a smirk.

"In other words you haven't changed a bit," said Zack with a grin. Then he turned back to Tifa. "All right, let's scope this place out. Tifa, Cloud, you guys go over on that side and I'll start here. Want to give us a hand, Cissnei?" The four of them searched the church for about two hours but came up empty, and decided to leave and keep looking elsewhere. As they headed out the door they ran into their friend Jonas, the ex-Shinra cadet who had helped them rescue Marlene and Denzel from the infamous Shinra labs.

"Hi guys," he said. "Is Aeris around? I was taking out my trash and found this in an alleyway, I think it belongs to her." Zack's eyes became perfect circles as he saw a familiar little red jacket in Jonas' raised hand.

"That's hers all right," Zack mumbled, staring at the ground.

"What's the matter?" Jonas asked, suddenly noticing the drawn expressions on his friends' faces.

"Jonas, we think Aeris might have been kidnapped sometime this morning," Tifa told him.

"You're kidding!" His eyes widened as well. He looked at the jacket in his hand again. "Then this must have been torn off of h—"

"Yeah," Zack broke him off.

Then Jonas paused. "Who's she?" he asked, eying with curiosity the woman he didn't recognize. Cissnei introduced herself and Jonas politely did the same.

"Former cadet, meet former Turk," said Zack.

"Turks? Oh man, those guys were creepy," said Jonas. "Always going off without saying anything about where they were going or what they were doing…really weird."

"Well I'll try to keep my creepiness down," Cissnei replied, smiling at him. "A cadet…so you bailed out early, huh?" Jonas didn't answer right away. He hadn't realized that he had been staring at her.

"Actually he was real helpful to us on his way out," Tifa broke in.

"He's the latest member of our little 'We All Got Screwed By Shinra' Club," Zack said wryly. "The Seventh Heaven bar is our little headquarters. We serve drinks, deliver packages, and if one of our own gets hurt, we find the ones responsible and go kick their asses. That's how we operate," he ended matter-of-factly, "Care to join?"

It sounded like a good club to Cissnei. "What have I got to lose?" she replied with a shrug.

"That's the spirit," said Zack, patting her on the shoulder. "Welcome aboard. As you can see you'll have to hit the ground running I'm afraid. Good to see you've got your own ride," he added, spotting a bike parked outside the church that was neither his nor Cloud's.

"Of course," she replied. "One's got to stay mobile."

"You always did have good taste in wheels," Zack said with a smile.

"Oh you remember that too?" she said.

"That Shinra bike you gave me? How could I forget it? That thing was totally sweet."

"Alright guys, let's stay focused here," said Tifa as she and Cloud boarded Fenrir.

"Right," said Zack as he and Cissnei mounted their bikes as well. "Looks like you're going to have to double up, Jonas. The young man took a step towards Zack's bike but Zack leaned back in his seat, stopping him. "Eh, I don't know if this thing is big enough for the both of us, pal," he said, even though he knew full well that it was. Instead he jerked his head towards the ex-Turk. "Cissnei's looks like it has some room." Clearly Jonas' previous ogling of the woman had not been missed by Zack at all. Zack could barely keep from bursting out laughing at the embarrassed, almost panicked look on Jonas' face, as Jonas was turning white and shaking his head. Zack gave him a wink.

"All right, hop on," said Cissnei. "Just don't touch anything back there, or I might have to kill you," she added jokingly.

"N-no, I mean, yes ma'am," said Jonas as he sat, having a feeling that she probably could. Of course she was referring to the bike in her little threat, but Zack had to cover his mouth and nearly fell off his seat thinking of the potential double entendres, drawing a puzzled look from Cloud and a slightly scolding look from Tifa for his dirty mind. Then the drivers all revved their engines and drove off. It was actually a good thing that Jonas was not one of the drivers, for his brain was entirely too preoccupied with the question of whether creepy people were supposed to be beautiful.


	3. Held Hostage

"I told you, he's dead."

"I think you're lying to us Aeris," a man's smooth voice was saying as he paced around the inside of a small cave. "I know there were two of them. I've seen them."

"Now you simply need to tell us where they are," another man said.

"What would you want with them anyway?" Aeris said gruffly from where she knelt on the ground, her hands tied behind her back.

"We'll be asking the questions, lady," the second man said.

"No…I think I'll answer that one, Trevor," said the first. "They took you away from me, Aeris," he said in the same tone as before, tilting her chin up with his finger. "And now they have to pay for that." She spat in his eye, causing him to snap his head back.

"You never had me, Paul," Aeris said, glaring at him. "Back then you were nothing but a little stalker, with more hormones than brains."

A look of anger crossed the man's face as his eyes narrowed, but then he smiled. "Oh but I have you now, don't I?" He began to slowly run his hands over her curves. "Oh, yes…you always were beautiful, Aeris. But that hotshot SOLDIER had to swoop into town and steal your little heart, didn't he?" he said, putting a hand on her chest. I'd see you two hanging around over those couple of years, whenever he bothered to show up…that smile, that laughter you gave to him that you could have given to me..." Aeris continued to look at the man in disgust.

"But then something happened, didn't it…he seemed to drop off the face of the planet. Don't think I didn't see you sending all those letters. Four years you waited…but he never came, did he?" The rhetorical questions oozed from his lips like snake venom. "And all that time, I was here for the taking…you could have had me, any day…" He slipped the straps of her dress off of her shoulders. "…but no, you kept holding on for your knight in shining armor…" Aeris clenched her teeth and looked daggers at him. "When you stopped sending the letters I knew something was up. Then not long after, I could tell just by watching you around town that he was gone. How awful it must have been for him…" Paul went on, "probably gunned down in the middle of who-knows-where…far away from the one he loved. Such a shame that you couldn't have been there with him, to ease his pain…as he _died."_ He put emphasis on the last word, Aeris wincing as he practically spat it into her ear. His words were cutting her to the core and he knew it; and he was enjoying it thoroughly. "After that I thought I had a chance…but no, you ran off with that other little fool. And what did that get you, hmm?" he said, tracing her cheekbone with his finger. "A sword through the back and a free ticket to the Lifestream." Aeris gave him a startled, questioning look. "Word gets around, darling," he added.

"No…no, it's not like that," Aeris defended, shaking her head. "It wasn't his fault!"

"Naturally I was devastated…" he said, ignoring her, "so I skipped town, made a new life for myself. I couldn't believe it when I heard you were back. But then when I heard of that stupid coincidence…that that first one was back too and you had actually gotten hitched…well, that was just the last straw. "

"All right, they're alive," admitted Aeris, grumbling. "But they're going to stay that way and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh, _I_ wouldn't lay a _hand_ on them..."

"No, just your hitmen here." Aeris shot back, jerking her head towards Trevor. "You're obviously too much of a coward to do it yourself." Before he could reply, a third man came around to the entrance of the cave and poked his head in.

"Anything yet?" asked the man.

"Not a peep," Paul reported.

"Looks like we're going to have to step things up a bit," added Trevor. He raised his foot and kicked Aeris in the shoulder as he spoke, tipping her over sideways onto the ground as she let out a small cry of protest.

"Well just let me know," the man said lazily, leaning against the wall of entrance and tracing a circle on the ground with his foot.

"You could have your men go start Phase Two while you're waiting, Alex," said Paul.

"Now? Isn't it a little early for that?"

"I'm not paying you Turks by the hour, you know."

"We're not Turks!"

"Whatever," Paul muttered, waving him off.

"W-What's Phase Two?" Aeris asked, looking up at Paul.

"Oh…" he replied , smiling, "you'll know soon enough, dearest."


	4. 'Just Business'

"So, anybody have any luck?" asked Zack as the three bikes pulled up again in front of the church. The friends had decided to split up for more efficient searching; they had seemingly covered every square inch of Midgar and Edge, and it was now nighttime.

"Nobody's heard or seen a thing," Jonas said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"We've got nothing here either…" said Tifa with a shrug.

"Unbelievable. We've looked all over this damn town," Zack muttered. "Is everyone in this dump BLIND?" he shouted in frustration, ironically drawing a couple of strange looks from passersby.

"Seems like so much crap has happened around here that no one notices anything anymore," Cloud reasoned.

"STORM is relatively smart," Cissnei said thoughtfully. "We Turks _were_ often sneaky at times."

"Yeah, until you had to blow up a town or something," said Zack. "Other than that you were stealthy as hell."

"We were acting under orders, Zack!" Cissnei argued.

" 'Orders', that was always the excuse, wasn't it?" he spat back.

"Which is why I left!"

"Guys, guys! Time out," Tifa said, putting up her hands. She sighed as Zack and Cissnei silenced, with glares still pasted on their faces. "Look, we're all tired, and we're all frustrated, but let's not kill each other, okay? That's not going to help Aeris. I say we sleep on this, before _Zack_ decides to blow up a town." Zack nodded, eyes downcast, knowing that Tifa was right. Besides, it was getting very late and they weren't going to find anything if they couldn't see it.

"Alright…let's go home," said Cloud.

They all headed back to Seventh Heaven, where Tifa had hung a 'Temporarily Closed for Business' sign in the window earlier, to give them some time. "You guys can stay here tonight if you like," she offered to Jonas and Cissnei. Fortunately Marlene and Denzel were with Barret that weekend so there was some extra room. Cissnei nodded appreciatively.

Before long everyone was in their beds. Zack lay awake with his hands behind his head, staring restlessly at the ceiling and trying not to think too much about the body that normally occupied the empty space beside him. He let out a sigh of exasperation, glaring at the moon outside the window. "Hang in there babe," he mumbled. Eventually he succumbed to his exhaustion and fell asleep, wondering where that body might be right now.

***

"Why the hell did we have to go all the way out to Wutai anyway?" one STORM member complained to another as they flew over the nation's capital city. Their chopper was small and unmarked, its Shinra logo painted over.

"You heard what Alex said, George" the pilot replied. "If that stuff is anywhere in the world, this chick's got it."

"I hope we're getting paid extra for this, Charlie," the first man grumbled.

"Well the pretty-boy says we're not getting paid at all 'til the job's done," the pilot said, "so we might as well get it over with. There's the place," he added, jerking his head towards the window. "Prepare for landing."

"Roger."

"Now remember, we're not supposed to get greedy. Just get that one type of materia and get out. 'Do what the people pay us for', that's our motto."

"What was the name of the materia again?"

"Eh, I forget. I know the pretty-boy said that it had green, orange and black swirls though—I'm sure we'll know it when we see it."

***

"He didn't come for you for four years," Paul said, pulling the ring off of Aeris' still-tied hands and holding it up. "What makes you think he'll come for you now?" She remained silent. He grabbed her by the back of her neck. "And the other one let you die! I wouldn't have done that. What did they have that I didn't, huh?" He pulled her closer and spoke softly into her ear. "Bet you wish they were here right now. But guess what…no one's coming, Aeris. If they really wanted to find you, don't you think they would have by now? Don't bother protecting them—they're no good to you. Now…tell me where they live." Aeris shook her head fiercely and said nothing. He shoved her back down and then bounced the ring hard off the side of her head. He pulled a small knife from his belt and looked at it thoughtfully. "I guess this is going to take a while, folks."

***

Charlie and George landed their chopper in a large abandoned lot and walked the rest of the way towards their destination—a large house not far from the Wutaiian palace. There were no lights on inside the house, and no vehicle in front of it.

"Looks like the little lady ain't home," said George.

"All the better," his partner replied. "Let's go." They went up to the door; George picked the lock and they went in. The place was as impressive on the inside as it was on the outside, but there was no time to marvel.

"Where d'you suppose the stash is?" asked George as they looked around.

"Try over there," said Charlie, pointing to a door in the far left corner of the foyer.

"There must be a dozen damn bolts on that thing!" George exclaimed. "It'll take forever to pick 'em all.

"Allow me." Charlie drew his handgun and fired at one of the locks, blowing it completely off. George followed suit and soon both men were shooting at the door, obliterating all twelve of the various latches. Just as they fired the last of their bullets they heard the sound of a motorcycle engine cutting off in front of the house.

"Shit!" hissed George. They both looked towards the front door, and quickly moved back and stood on either side of it. Suddenly it flew open to reveal the silhouette of a small woman with a large shuriken in her hand.

"Hey! Who are you guys and what're you doin' in my house?!" she shouted, looking from one to the other. As she turned to look at Charlie, the butt of George's handgun quickly connected with the back of her head and she went down on her face, unconscious.

George looked down at her with a smirk. "Nothin' personal, missy. Just business."

"Let's keep moving," said Charlie, looking at his cell phone. "I just got a text from Alex with our location for Phase Three." He snapped the phone shut and stowed it back in his pocket. "That pink-dressed piglet finally squealed."


	5. Phase Two

" 'Seventh Heaven'. This is the place all right," said George as the two STORM members approached the darkened bar, having returned from Wutai. "You got that special materia?"  
"Right here," Charlie replied, holding up a small bag. "I just grabbed a handful. I snagged a few Sleep materia too, just in case.  
"Good thinkin'."  
"All right, pick the lock already. Let's go find those bums." George did so and the two men entered the building. They quickly moved through the deserted main barroom and soon found their way upstairs. Charlie quietly flung open one of the doors. They poked their heads in to see Zack sleeping soundly. "Well there's Prince Charming," said Charlie in a hushed voice. "Now we just gotta find the one that looks like a chocobo and we're in business."  
"Should we cast it on him now?" George asked.  
"No, better wait till we drag the other one in here," Charlie replied. "And keep your damn voice down. Come on, let's check the rest of the place out. Leave the door open." The two partners took a few steps and opened another door, this time to a room with two beds, both occupied. They were stunned to see that one of the sleepers was their former partner.  
"Is that…_Cissnei_? What the hell is _she_ doin' here?" George exclaimed.  
"No clue," said Charlie. "Maybe she's workin' with them."  
"Traitor," George grumbled. "Should we off her now, while we have the chance?"  
"Stay focused, you trigger-happy twit. Nobody's paying us to kill Cissnei, or anybody else."  
"And who's that other guy?" George asked. "He wasn't in any of those photos they showed us."  
"How should I know?"  
"Why don't we tie 'im up and take him with us? He could be useful later."  
"All right," said Charlie, rolling his eyes in exasperation, "but after we find the other boyfriend and cast the materia. Let's go." The two STORM members moved on and finally found the room where Cloud was sleeping.  
"Bingo," whispered George upon seeing him. "We've found Goldilocks."  
"Alright, let's move 'im," said Charlie.  
"Better cast one of those Sleep materias on him just in case," said George as he propped the door open. "We don't want him wakin' up."  
"Right." Charlie did so, and then together the two men dragged Cloud out the door and down the hallway.  
"Is this _really_ necessary?" asked George from behind Charlie with a grunt, his hands under Cloud's arms.  
"Yes, if we want the damn spell to work," grumbled Charlie as he pulled the sleeping man by the feet. They entered Zack and Aeris' room and dumped Cloud on the bed. "Now turn his head—remember they've gotta be the first person each other sees."  
"This is ridiculous," said George. "How do we know it'll all go as the pretty-boy says it will? His plan's got more holes in it than the Shinra building."  
"Not our problem. We'll just give it our best shot. Go on, do it." George turned Cloud's head so that he was lying face to face with Zack. The STORM member stared down at the sleeping men.  
"That just looks _wrong_, man..."  
"Will you cast the damn materia already?" said Charlie impatiently, tossing one of the green, black and orange balls to his partner. They each cast the spell on one of the men, then stepped back and looked at them with satisfaction. "Done." Charlie said in a gravelly voice with a bit of a smile. "Now let's go get that other guy and blow this joint." The partners left the room and went back to where Jonas and Cissnei were sleeping. They cast a Sleep materia on Jonas as a precaution as they had done with Cloud, then pulled him up off of his pillow by the collar and began to tie his hands and feet. Just as Charlie was tightening the last knot, his arm accidentally jerked backwards, spilling the contents of the small materia bag that hung from it and accidentally giving his partner an elbow to the face.  
"Ow!" George shouted, stumbling back and landing on his rear end on the floor with a thud. "You dumb son of a—"  
"Hey! What's going on?" the noise had awoken Cissnei and she sprang out of bed. Charlie seized the still-sleeping Jonas, yanking him down to the floor, and started to drag him out.  
George drew his gun and aimed it at Cissnei. "Die you turncoat bi—"  
"Just cast the Sleep on her!" cried Charlie. "We've gotta get out of here before we wake the whole place!" Cissnei quickly moved forward.  
"Who are you?" she demanded, not recognizing them in the dark. "Where are you taking him?"  
"Sweet dreams, Cissnei," said George, grabbing the last Sleep materia and casting it on her as he and Charlie headed out the door, Charlie with Jonas slung over his broad shoulder. For a second Cissnei wondered how the man knew her name, but suddenly realized that she recognized the voice. They were her former partners from STORM. This couldn't be good. The room began to swim before her as the Sleep materia started to take its effect, and she stumbled out into the hallway after them as quickly as she could. She reached out her arms and squinted her eyes trying to see as she watched the men run out of the barroom. She tried to cry out but her voice was too weak.  
"No…stop…George… Jonas…don't hurt…J—" Suddenly she tripped and fell down the stairs. She succumbed to the spell, and landed on her face, asleep.


	6. The Kuzar materia

Tifa awoke to crashing sounds and came running out of her room. She glanced around and soon spotted her new friend in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. "Cissnei!" she cried, dashing down to her and shaking her awake. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Cissnei sat up groggily. "George and Charlie were here," she said.

"Who?"

"STORM was here, the guys from STORM," Cissnei clarified.

"Your friends?" asked Tifa.

"Not anymore, that's for sure. George almost tried to kill me and then they took Jonas. I don't know why."

"Jeeze, we're just losing people left and right," said Tifa. "This is getting personal. How did they know where we lived?" she wondered aloud.

"My only guess is that Aeris told them," Cissnei said.

"She wouldn't tell them easily…" Tifa said thoughtfully, shaking her head. "Are you sure about what you said about STORM not using torture?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid I can't speak for whoever's paying them," Cissnei replied sadly. "I didn't stick around long enough to find out very much."

"Well we might as well wake up the guys," said Tifa as the two women stood up. "We agreed to get an early start anyway, and the sun is almost up." Cissnei nodded and they made their way back upstairs. Tifa poked her head in Cloud's room, only to see that he was absent. "You've got to be kidding me," she mumbled. She called to Cissnei. "They only took Jonas, right? Nobody else?" Cissnei didn't answer. Tifa turned to see her standing in the doorway of Zack and Aeris' room, staring inside, speechless. "What is it?" Tifa asked, coming over to see what she had found. Cissnei stepped aside and Tifa looked in and saw the unlikely pair that was occupying the bed. "What the hell?!"

The two women stood there for a moment, equally baffled as to how Cloud could have ended up in bed with Zack.

"Does Cloud sleepwalk?" said Cissnei, raising an eyebrow.

"Not that I know of," Tifa answered. "Though he's done some pretty weird things, so you never know. Whatever," she said, shaking her head in bewilderment. She took a step forward and shook Zack's shoulder. "C'mon guys, time to wake up! We've got a long day ahead of us." Zack's eyes fluttered open and sure enough the first person he saw was Cloud. A look of rage crossed Zack's face and with one arm he shoved Cloud off the bed so hard that Cloud's body shot halfway across the room and crashed into the wall. Tifa and Cissnei continued to stare, jaws dropped. "_That'll_ teach him not to sleepwalk," Tifa mumbled, half-joking. Then Zack jumped up so that he was standing on the bed, and chucked a pillow at Cloud's head just as the blonde was getting to his feet.

"You're dead!" Zack yelled.

"Bring it!" Cloud shouted back, crouching in a fighting stance. Zack jumped down off the bed and ran at Cloud. He swung his fist but was blocked by the pillow, which he then quickly deflected away. He tackled Cloud and soon they were engaged in an all-out fist fight. Tifa and Cissnei looked at each other—this was no ordinary pillow fight. The men chased each other around the house, and before the women knew it they had both gotten hold of their swords and were swinging them wildly. They ended up back in the bedroom and Tifa and Cissnei tried to control them, chasing after them.

"Zack, stop that!" cried Cissnei.

"Cloud, get back here!" Tifa shouted, yanking him down to the floor where he landed on his feet.

"Get off me, woman!" Cloud yelled, pushing her away with his arm. Tifa stumbled back and stared at him, a hurt, confused expression on her face. There was a strange orange glow in his eyes, as if he was being possessed by some demon. Even his voice didn't sound like his own. Tifa grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"Cloud," she said gently. "Do you know who I am?" He stared back at her for a moment but was interrupted by Zack shouting at him from behind.

"Get back here and fight like a man you chocobo-headed freak!" Cloud whirled around and jumped up in the air to meet him, only to be thrown back down to the mattress. Cloud quickly got back up and the two men continued to fly around the room.

Tifa threw up her hands in frustration. "How are we supposed to go find Aeris if two members of our team are trying to kill each other?"

"Maybe that's the whole idea," said Cissnei. Tifa shot her a questioning look. Cissnei held up a materia that Tifa did not recognize, with green, orange and black swirls. "Charlie dropped this in the other room—I bet it has something to do with the way they're acting." Tifa took the materia and examined it. "I mean, Zack and Cloud wouldn't just wake up and decide that they hate each other. Maybe STORM is turning them against each other to slow us down. Remember, we're dealing with smart people here."

"It makes sense," said Tifa thoughtfully. Cloud and Zack swept past, going out the door and back down the stairs to the main barroom. As they took hacks at each other they started to wreck the walls and some of the furniture. "Hey, watch it! I have a business to run here!" shouted Tifa. She sighed, very exasperated as she turned back to Cissnei. "There's got to be some way to reverse it though, right?"

"We'd need some sort of materia expert," Cissnei mused.

Tifa snapped her fingers. "We've got one—Yuffie Kisaragi."

Cissnei raised an eyebrow. "'Kisaragi'? The royal family of Wutai?"

"The same," Tifa said with a nod. "She's quite the little ninja."

"We — Shinra was at war with them for a while," Cissnei said uneasily.

"Cissnei, Shinra was at war with everybody," Tifa said, tongue-in-cheek. "Don't worry, Yuffie's on our side. We met her a few years ago, sometime before Meteor hit. I guess the world gets a little smaller when you're trying to save it."

"True," said Cissnei. "Well right now we have to save Zack and Cloud—from _themselves_."

***

"Well, here we are," said Tifa several hours later.

"And to think how much time we at Shinra spent trying to take this place down," Cissnei marveled, looking around. "I haven't been to Wutai since the wars. And now we're going here to ask someone for help."

"It was nice of Cid to fly us here once we explained the situation," said Tifa. "He must be in a good mood or something."

"You sure have a lot of useful friends," said Cissnei.

"That's AVALANCHE for you," Tifa replied. "If you're not useful, you're not our friend."

"Sounds efficient, if nothing else."

"But anyway like I said, Yuffie knows everything you'd want to know about materia—and more. I don't know why she wasn't answering her phone. Normally I would wait for her to call back..."

"...but this is kind of an emergency," Cissnei finished.

Soon they had reached the house of the self-proclaimed materia hunter; Tifa went up and banged on the door. They waited but there was no answer. She tried again. "Hey Yuffie, it's me, Tifa. Open up." Still no reply. "Funny, I've visited her a couple of times before and she usually comes right out," Tifa remarked.

"Maybe she's not home?" Cissnei offered.

Tifa shook her head. "Her motorcycle is still here," she observed. "Something's not right." She reached for the door handle and realized that it was unlocked. Tifa and Cissnei exchanged curious glances as Tifa pushed the door open and they entered. It didn't take them long to figure out what the 'something' was; there lie Yuffie face-down in the entranceway, the back of her head bloodied. She looked like she had been there for some time. "Yuffie!" Tifa gasped. She dropped to one knee and shook her friend's shoulder. "Yuffie, are you all right?

"Unnhh?" Yuffie let out a small moan as she lifted her head.

"What happened?" Tifa asked.

"Tifa?" asked Yuffie as she sat up slowly. "What are you doing h—MY MATERIA!" The girl suddenly sprang to her feet and bolted from the room. Cissnei looked after her in wonderment, and Tifa just smiled.

"She's fine," Tifa said. They quickly followed Yuffie to the door that led down to her basement. It was wide open, and the edge of it looked as if it had been shot to bits.

"They hit the vault, I know it!" cried Yuffie. Her feet barely touched the floor as she flew down the steps.

"Did she say 'vault'?" Cissnei asked Tifa as they continued to follow.

"Ooh when I get my hands on those guys," Yuffie grumbled as they turned right and ran down a dim corridor. "The only one allowed to steal materia around here is me!" Then they saw a glow that was as bright as day as they rounded another corner. They went through a set of open double doors that were probably normally locked, and they saw it—a large room stacked floor to ceiling with materia. There were racks and racks of every type imaginable, sorted by color.

"I've never seen this much materia in my life!" Cissnei exclaimed.

"Told you," said Tifa with a smirk. "I see you've been organizing," she said to Yuffie.

"Yeah," said Yuffie as she flew around the room ninja-like, checking the shelves. Finally she landed on her feet in front of Tifa and Cissnei. "Not as bad as I thought," she reported. Actually they didn't take hardly anything except a couple Sleeps—uh-oh," she said, looking at a blank space on the far wall. She hurried over to it. "My Kuzar materia, it's gone!"

" 'Kuzar' ?" said Tifa.

"Yeah, it's a really rare one," said Yuffie, still looking at the empty spot on the shelf with her hands on her hips. "Dangerous too, if it falls in the wrong hands."

"What does it do?" Tifa asked.

"You cast it on somebody and they automatically feel the need to destroy the first person they lay eyes on, no matter who it is, and they keep pursuing that person until they destroy them," Yuffie explained, punching her fist into her hand. "Their physical strength gets doubled, and they're very hard to distract." Tifa and Cissnei looked at each other; it certainly sounded right. "It's real useful if you're fighting multiple enemies, 'cause they're inevitably gonna look at each other sometimes," Yuffie added.

"Did it look like this?" Cissnei asked, holding up the materia that they had found earlier.

"Yes!" cried Yuffie, taking it and putting it back in its place. "Where'd you find it?" she asked them.

"Well, that's why we came," said Tifa. "We think…somebody might have used it on Zack and Cloud."

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Not good!"

"No kidding," Tifa replied. "So now they're completely set against each other. They were dueling all morning. I gave all the delivery jobs to Zack and locked Cloud in the bar to keep them apart for the day. I even hid their swords. We came to you because we need to figure this out before they kill each other." Yuffie looked very nervous. "And to make matters worse, Aeris and another friend of ours have been kidnapped, so we can't have our team torn apart like this."

"So can you help us? Is there a way to reverse this thing, perhaps with another materia?" asked Cissnei.

"Yeah, the Jayne materia, but, oh man, that's even rarer," said Yuffie, shaking her head. "I don't think even _I_ have any. And there's only one place I know of to get it—the caves at the top of Mount Shunai."

"Shunai," said Cissnei, slightly startled, "isn't that an…"

"…_active volcano?"_ Tifa finished.

"Yeah, which is why I never go there!" said Yuffie. "Actually," she said thoughtfully, "I heard that somebody cast a really powerful spell on it a few months ago. It used to have big eruptions every couple of months and cause all kinds of trouble for people. So finally somebody decided to put an end to it and now it only has little ones, every day at sunset. It does less damage than before but it's still enough to kill you if you're near the top."

"And where did you hear this?" asked Tifa.

"Vinny told me," Yuffie replied, smiling. "It sorta came up in conversation the other day—I forget why."

"Maybe because all you ever talk about is materia, Yuffie," Tifa teased.

" Who's Vinny?" asked Cissnei.

"Oh, our friend Vincent Valentine," Tifa clarified.

"And what does _he_ do?"

"He knows everything," Tifa answered simply.

"Right…" said Cissnei.

"Hey, speakin' of which, who are _you_?" asked Yuffie. Tifa introduced them.

"So do you think we can make a quick run to Mount Shunai, get the materia before sundown and bring it back to Zack and Cloud?" Cissnei asked.

"Well, uh, actually, there's one catch," Yuffie replied awkwardly.

"And that is...?" Tifa pressed.

"You have to bring the person to _it_. If it's moved too far from the mountain it doesn't work. And the person isn't fully cured until they lay eyes on their target again, so you have to bring both guys at the same time."

"That's ridiculous!" cried Tifa.

"Whoever invented the Kuzar was really smart," Yuffie said, shaking her head. "Plus the first person to touch the blood of somebody who's gotten Kuzar cast on them receives similar effects for a few seconds, even if the first person has just been cured. The person it rubs off on gets really angry and violent and irrational. All hell could break loose if you're not careful."

"It sounds complicated," said Cissnei.

"Well I guess we have no choice. I'll call Cid," said Tifa, taking out her phone. "We'll go back to the bar and pick up the boys and then get them to that mountain asap. You'll have to come with us to help us find that materia, Yuffie."

"You mean, fly?" said Yuffie uneasily.

"Come on. They're your friends too, aren't they?"

"Yeah, okay," Yuffie mumbled reluctantly, looking down at her feet. Then her face brightened and she looked up, punching her fists together. "Alright girls, let's do this!"


	7. On to Mount Shunai

"Stop swingin' those goddamn swords! You're gonna break my ship!"

"I told you Cid, they can't help it…" Tifa grumbled, her hand on her forehead.

"Why the hell'd you let them bring those things on here anyway?" he asked.

"Once they found where I hid them they wouldn't put them down," she said. Indeed they had found Zack and Cloud already fighting outside by the time the group had flown back to Seventh Heaven. "You saw them—the only way we could even get them on here was to let them chase each other. It's like they can't see anything else. And the bar's gonna need a new front door."

"That Kuza-who-sa –whatsit sounds like some pretty weird shit."

"Kuzar," corrected Yuffie, whose face was about as green as the materia itself by now. "Oohhh…" she moaned, holding her stomach, "Once we got back from Wutai couldn't we have just hiked?"

"What's with her?" Cissnei asked Tifa quietly.

Tifa sighed in frustration. "The ninja gets airsick."

"Oh." said Cissnei.

"Tifa…" whined Yuffie.

Tifa shook her head. "There wouldn't have been enough time," she answered.

"That's right," said Cid. "You said the mountain blows its top at sunset, right? So if y'all had climbed up it you would've been toast before you could find that other materia." Yuffie knew in her heart that they were right, but it didn't help her stomach. "Hey watch it ya chocobo's ass!" Cid yelled as he narrowly missed getting a rather violent haircut courtesy of Cloud. Cid turned to Tifa and Cissnei. "Could ya at least get one of 'em below deck, before they make me crash this damn thing?"

"All right," muttered Tifa. "Come on, Cissnei." Fortunately at that moment the two men had bounced off each other so that they were on opposite sides of the cabin, giving the women a chance to each grab one of them.

"Put me down!" Cloud cried as Tifa put a vice-grip around his middle with her arms from behind.

"First Class SOLDIER my ass!" Zack was yelling as Cissnei jumped on his back and put him in a chokehold. "Let me at 'im!"

"Oh shut up!" said the pilot to the men.

"We're doing our best, Cid!" snapped Tifa.

"They're like _children_," grumbled Cissnei.

"Yeah, children with big-ass swords," muttered Cid.

Cissnei swung one of her arms away from Zack's neck and knocked his sword out of his hand. Tifa relieved Cloud of his with a high leg kick, sending it skittering across the floor under the feet of Yuffie who jumped up to get out of the way. "Problem solved!" Tifa announced through clenched teeth, as Zack and Cloud still struggled to get free.

"Great, now get one of 'em outta here!" Cid shouted in desperation. Tifa hauled Cloud towards the steps with him squirming like a little kid when throwing a fit.

"Good luck," called Cissnei, eyes wide as she continued to hang on to Zack.

"You too!" came the reply. Tifa and Cloud disappeared below deck, with Cloud and Zack still trading insults at the top of their lungs.

Cid exhaled. "This is gonna be a damn long flight."

***

"Well there's your mountain," Cid said a couple of hours later as they cruised to within view of Mount Shunai.

"Thank goodness," muttered a tired Cissnei from where she sat on the floor with Zack and Yuffie. "Never thought I'd be so happy to see a volcano." Keeping Zack and Cloud apart had been tiring but the women had managed to pull it off without any further trouble. The trip had been relatively uneventful after the initial outbursts, save for a few more shouting matches between decks. Eventually the men had settled down, at least for the moment.

"Better get Tifa," said Cid as they got closer the mountain.

"I'll do it," Yuffie volunteered, jumping up and heading down the steps. She came up a moment later with Tifa and Cloud, who was just about pushing Tifa out ahead of him to get her out of his way. Cloud and Zack caught sight of each other and Tifa and Cissnei immediately tried to restrain them again. Unfortunately they both broke away, grabbed their swords and recommenced fighting.

"I reckon you've got a about an hour or two before sunset," Cid was saying. "There's no real room to land so I'll drop you all off at the top." The _Shera_ now hovered directly over their destination.

"All of us?" said Yuffie. "Can't you keep the guys here while we go find the Jayne materia?"

"Hell no! They'll tear her to pieces!" Cid cried. "Their asses aren't gonna stay on my ship for one minute without you girls to keep 'em under control."

"Alright, fine, whatever," said Tifa. "The important thing is we get that materia."

"Yeah, so I'll just circle around until—shit!" Cid exclaimed, looking at his fuel gauge. "She's almost dry."

"Lovely," said Tifa sarcastically.

"I'm gonna have to leave you here and go refuel, otherwise she won't have enough juice to get home," said Cid as he prepared to let them off. Soon all but the pilot had their feet on solid ground. "I'll be back in time to grab ya, I promise!" he called as he pulled away. The three women stood and watched him go for a moment, the breeze from the propellers whipping their hair in their faces. Then they turned and took in their surroundings—a rocky, desolate place with small caves around the edges, and a lake of hot boiling lava in the middle.

"Well I guess we'd better get to work," muttered Tifa, seeing that the sun was already leaning towards the west. They looked at each other, then eyed Zack and Cloud who were of course still dueling, oblivious to everything.

"Should we try and stop them?" Cissnei asked glumly. Tifa shook her head.

"It's hopeless," she replied. "We can let them keep each other busy while we look for the materia." Yuffie bit her lip, feeling slightly sad that this seemed to be the only way. Tifa turned to her. "Tell us again what it looks like, Yuffie?" The ninja put her fingers to her temples, closing her eyes and trying to remember.

"Uh let's see, the Jayne, that would be um…blue and purple I think," she blurted out, looking back up at Tifa.

"Okay good, let's spread out," said Tifa, gesturing around the area with her hand. "Remember we need at least two, one for each of them." The women did so, searching all over the top of the mountain for the materia, leaving no stone unturned. But after an hour had passed, they had still come up empty-handed. There were a few false alarms, some bluish-looking rocks, but that was it. They were getting desperate.

Cissnei spotted something shiny on the ground. It was too small to be a materia but she picked it up just out of curiosity. It was a ring, a very pretty one. "Hey Tifa, take a look at this," Cissnei said, holding it up as Tifa came over. "Could someone else have been here besides us?"

Tifa's eyes widened as she took the ring and examined it. "Cissnei," she said, "this is Aeris' wedding ring."


	8. 'Aeris'

Cissnei drew in a sharp breath. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Two blue gems with a diamond in the middle," Tifa observed, "I'm positive." She smirked as she said, "I remember when Zack bought it for her, he was so silly. Playing with it, making dumb jokes about how they were like his two little mako eyes watching her…For a week she couldn't look at her left hand without laughing. They were so happy."

"He always was crazy," Cissnei said, smiling sadly.

"He sure is crazy now," Tifa replied, sighing and pocketing the ring as they watched Zack and Cloud continue to chase each other around fighting.

"Tifa! Cissnei! Come quick!" cried Yuffie.

"Did you find the materia?" asked Cissnei as they hurried around to the other side of the volcano's mouth.

"Something better!" came the reply. Tifa and Cissnei joined Yuffie, and looked where she was pointing, towards one of the small caves. Just inside the entrance was a pink-and-brown heap.

"Aeris!" Tifa gasped. The women ran over to their friend, still kneeling down with her hands tied behind her back. Her head was hung in exhaustion and her clothes were in tatters; she had clearly been tortured. Tifa got down on one knee and put her hands on Aeris' shoulders. "Oh, you look awful."

"Tifa!" Aeris exclaimed weakly, looking up. "You…how did you find me? Are Zack and Cloud all right? I tried not to give them up, I really did…"

"They're all right…sort of," Tifa grumbled, throwing a glance over her shoulder.

For the first time Aeris noticed the two fighters. "What the…? Why are they…?"

Tifa rubbed her own forehead. "Couple of jerks came and cast this materia on them that made them hate each other, and the only way the cure 'em was to bring 'em here and find this _other_ materia. It was only through good luck that we found you too."

"I see…" said Aeris, chewing her lip. "I felt so guilty when they finally made me crack…but I was sure Zack and Cloud could fight off whoever or whatever was sent to take them out." Aeris looked back up at them, shaking her head miserably. "I never expected something like this. Amazing what one little spell can make good friends do to each other."

"Well as soon as we find two of those materias it'll all be over." Tifa replied, adding, "You have no idea what a pain in the ass it's been with these two today. Here, let me help you out of these first," she said, starting to pull at Aeris' bonds. Suddenly Tifa heard a click and felt the barrel of a gun pressed against her temple.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a voice. It was Paul. "Hands up, slowly," he said. Tifa complied.

"I see our guests have arrived," said Alex as he stepped out of the shadows with his two STORM members, eying Zack and Cloud.

"Lookin' for these?" asked Charlie. With a smug look on his face Charlie reached in his pocket and produced a pair of shining blue-and-purple balls — the Jayne materia. The women's jaws dropped. Of course. Paul and STORM had had it all along. Charlie immediately walked from the cave opening to the mouth of the volcano, casually juggling the two materias between his hands as he went. He purposefully paced back and forth alongside the pit of lava, looking as though he could drop the materias into it at any moment. The women watched anxiously, not taking their eyes off of them.

"The Jayne materia," Paul announced, "the only cure for the Kuzar, only found on Mount Shunai," he said with an air of cockiness. "You didn't think we'd make it easy, did you?"

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Tifa demanded of Paul coolly.

Paul chuckled. "It's all very simple, really. This girl broke my heart," he said, curling his fingers around Aeris' bare shoulder, "so I find it only fair that I should break hers." Aeris turned and looked up at him indignantly—finally it clicked.

"It—it wasn't luck, was it," she said. "You knew! You knew about the mountain and the materia and everything, and you pulled all this just so _I_ could watch them beat each other up!"

"Very good, Mrs. Fair," Paul replied condescendingly. "Ha, what a stupid name…"

"Is that what this is all _about_?" cried Cissnei to Alex and the STORM members. "You've sold yourselves out to a man who never got over his teenage fantasies? Is this what you've _become_?" she said in disgust, shaking her head with anger and disappointment.

"He's paying us handsomely, Cissnei," said Alex without a hint of remorse. "It's a shame you couldn't get your share."

"You've all lost your minds, I ought to put you out of your miseries right now!" Cissnei raised her shuriken, ready to hurl it at them.

"Now now, remember what you came here for," Paul said. Cissnei paused, raising an eyebrow. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to that materia."

"Just give it to them, will you?" Aeris said to Paul. "You've made your point."

"No darling, you don't understand," Paul replied, tilting her chin up with his finger. "You see, this is a fight to the death." Aeris' eyes got a little wider and her heart sank as she continued watching, realizing that this fact should have been obvious. "I want you to see them cut each other's hearts out, like you did to me."

"You sick son of a bitch," Aeris said icily. Seeing that Paul was distracted, Tifa gave him a quick elbow to the stomach, enabling herself to stand up and causing him to double over and drop his gun. Furious, he quickly picked it back up and aimed it at Charlie who was still standing by the mouth of the volcano.

"You want your materia?" Paul shouted. "Go get it!" Suddenly he shot Charlie and the Jayne materias went flying from the man's hands into the air. Looks of terror crossed all the women's faces as the only hope of bringing Cloud and Zack back to normal seemed about to vanish. But before anyone knew it Yuffie leapt over the hole. In a split second she spun around and grabbed both materias in midair, then caught herself on the opposite edge with her feet, ending up hanging upside down some distance above the boiling lava.

"You freak, you killed him!" George shouted at Paul.

"Hey, more money for you, right?" he retorted. The STORM member just stared at Paul in shock.

"Hang on, Yuffie!" cried Tifa, rushing towards her friend. Paul aimed his gun at her as soon as her back was turned.

"Tifa, look out!" a man's voice shouted. Tifa whirled around in time to see Paul having a glitch with his gun. But who had called her name? It couldn't have been Zack or Cloud; they were still in their own world. Suddenly they all turned and spotted Jonas, on his knees all the way in the back of the cave, with his hands tied and his face bloodied — it had been him.

"What?! There was a _third?_" Paul cried. He whirled around to face Aeris as he spoke. A startled look crossed her face as she realized what he was implying.

"No, I hardly know him, I swear!" she cried, shaking her head rapidly.

"You lied to us before, Aeris. Why should I believe you now? George, kill him! I'll pay you extra!" George turned towards the young redhead and raised and cocked his gun from where he stood just at the entrance of the cave. Jonas tried in vain to struggle from his bonds as he eyed the weapon aimed straight at his heart.


	9. Backstabbers

"No!" Jonas heard a woman's voice shout. Suddenly he heard a gunshot, and in a split-second saw a red-and-white blur in front of him and heard the clink of a bullet ricocheting off of metal. He heard two sharp cries of pain. Jonas looked up, having grimaced in anticipation, and saw Alex gripping his own shoulder as if he had been shot. Then Jonas saw that George was dead —with Cissnei's shuriken lodged right between his eyes.

Still on his knees Jonas stared at him. Then he watched Cissnei as she walked in and retrieved her weapon. He could barely understand what had just happened — it had all happened so fast. But one thing was for sure: this woman — this very pretty woman — had saved his life. She had released her shuriken at the exact right time and deflected the bullet, into her former commander's shoulder no less. _But…but why? I…I'm nobody, _he thought. Him, ex-Shinra cadet Jonas Cyprus, a social outcast by most accounts, whom she had met only yesterday. _What am I to her?_

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt something tug at the ropes that held his wrists and heard a ripping sound. He turned to see Cissnei down on one knee behind him, cutting through the ropes using one of the sharp tips of the shuriken; Jonas held still and watched her. When she accidentally scratched her hand he realized that he hated to see her bleed. After freeing his hands she stood up, reaching out to him with one hand and holding her weapon in the other, one of its points still dripping with the other man's blood, with a sweet crooked smile on her face. Jonas shook himself out of his trance and took her hand, and she pulled him to his feet. "Thank you," he managed to get out, as they moved back towards the entrance of the cave.

"Cissnei!" cried Alex before she could reply, "You backstabber!"

Cissnei folded her arms and looked at her ex-commander coldly. "Forehead, actually."

"How dare you!" Alex shouted. "I ought to—"

"Shut up, both of you!" Paul broke in. "Can't you see I'm enjoying this show?" Zack and Cloud were finally beginning to wear each other down. Still they remained incredibly evenly matched, with the strength from the Kuzar materia on top of the Jenova cells and skills that they already possessed. "So who do you think is gonna win, Aeris?" Paul asked her, putting his head next to hers as they watched the battle together. She leaned away from him in disgust. "I'd put my money on the black-haired one, though the little one's got some speed too…" he said, as if commentating on a horse race. "Open your eyes, Aeris!" Paul commanded, grabbing at her scalp and jerking her head up, forcing her to look. "You need to watch them bleed."

"You sick son of a bitch!" Aeris repeated, her face red with anger.

"I'd watch that mouth honey," he said. "I still have a gun back here."

"You wouldn't kill me though," Aeris said knowingly. "Not before—

"—the end of the show," the man said with a smile. "At which point I'll kill whichever man is left and— maybe you, I haven't decided yet," he added casually. Aeris clenched her teeth, trying to block out his insane words as she looked back and forth from Zack to Cloud, helplessly watching as they fought. Of course she wanted the battle to end, and yet she didn't, because she knew that it couldn't possibly end well. Either way, she became determined not to let Paul get the satisfaction of seeing it that he so craved.

In a matter of moments her wish was granted. Suddenly a sword-slash from Zack sent Cloud spinning into Alex. As Alex came in contact with Cloud's Kuzar-infused blood, the secondhand spell that Yuffie had described earlier was cast on him. All reason left his mind as he turned on Paul like a madman, the orange glow flickering in his eyes.

"You!" he shouted, giving Paul a shove and knocking the gun from his hand. "My men are dead because of you!"

"Hey! I'm still paying you!" Paul argued.

"Like hell you are! You were probably going to kill me next!" the STORM leader retorted, pushing Paul closer and closer to the mouth of the volcano, which Yuffie had successfully escaped from by now. Tifa dashed over and finished freeing Aeris while Paul wasn't looking. "You're the biggest backstabber of all!"Alex went on. Finally he shoved Paul over the edge, where Paul caught himself with one hand.

Aeris took a few steps and stood over him. "I'd have to agree with that," she said stiffly.

"Aeris!" cried Paul, his voice suddenly turning to one of desperation. "Let's—let's go back to Midgar. M-maybe we could work something out!" She stared at him in fury and disbelief—he was delusional right to the end. Her eyes narrowed into slits and she shook her head slowly, her voice pure ice.

"The only place you're going back to is the Planet," she said. A look of fear and confusion crossed Paul's face. She then drove the toe of her boot as hard as she could into his clinging fingers; and he let out a long shout as he plummeted to the lava below.

"Hey!" shouted Alex, snapping out of the ever-so-brief spell. "You just fried my paycheck! I could've bought half a town with what he was paying!"

"Buy this!" yelled Tifa. She charged at him and flung him all the way to the back wall of the cave, where he hit his head and fell to the ground, unconscious. Tifa walked out as if it was all in a day's work.

"Yeah! That'll show 'em!" crowed Yuffie, punching the air. Cissnei gave a slight applause, a bemused look on her face.

"Thank you, thank you," Tifa said, playing along. She then walked up alongside Aeris, who was still staring down into the lava pit.

"He always was a loser," Aeris muttered. "I just never thought he'd take it so far. I guess when we were kids we all had that one obsessive little creep that followed us around. Then when you grow up, they become your stalker."

"Either that or you fall in love with them," Tifa murmured, eying Cloud.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"I guess Paul's crazy thoughts just kept building and building until he exploded—like a volcano," Aeris said thoughtfully.

"Well he's gone now Aeris," Tifa said, putting an arm around her friend's shoulders. "You did it — it's over." Suddenly the two women ducked as a massive blade whizzed over their heads, followed by a loud

"Is that all you've got, Chocobo Butt?!"

"Well, _almost_ over," said Aeris half-jokingly. She gestured towards Cloud and Zack "We've still got to fix these two."

"Heh, right, where'd those Jayne materias go?" Tifa said, looking around.

"I uh, kinda dropped them," said Yuffie. Eight round eyes stared at her. "Oh, they didn't go in! I'm sure they're here somewhere," she sputtered nervously. Tifa rolled her eyes and everyone quickly scanned the ground for the two Jayne materias.

"Here's one!" called Jonas, grabbing one of the blue and purple balls and holding it up, ready to finally put it to use.

"No, wait!" cried Yuffie, putting out her hands. But it was too late, for Jonas had already cast the materia on the nearest man in order to cure him. The problem? He had only cast one.


	10. 'All hell could break loose'

The Jayne spell hit Zack first, and his urge to destroy Cloud immediately disappeared. Snapping out of the Kuzar spell and suddenly having no idea why he was trying to kill his friend, Zack naturally faltered in his attack. But Cloud's senses were still caught in the Kuzar's grip, and he would not — could not — stop fighting. Before anyone could make a move to stop him he took advantage of Zack's moment of hesitation and stabbed him, over and over with the speed of a machine, relentlessly tearing into his best friend as if he were his worst enemy. Zack's sword slipped from his hand as he was rendered helpless within seconds. He was knocked backwards, colliding with Aeris before hitting the ground. His blood rubbed off on her and the Kuzar took control of her mind as it had with Alex, suddenly filling her with the rage of a wild animal. She leapt at Cloud, knocking his sword away and introducing her fist to his jaw. She tackled him to the ground, throwing punches and accusations at his face.

"So ya like watching your friends die, do ya? Huh?!"

"Aeris! It's not his fault, he's still under the spell!" cried Tifa as she tried to pull her friend off of Cloud. "Calm down!"

"Calm down? I'll calm _you_ down!" Aeris thrust her fist forward, and since thrusting one's fist towards Tifa is never a good idea, they practically got into a fight of their own. Cissnei jumped in and tried to break them up as Yuffie and Jonas glanced around wildly for the other Jayne materia. Cloud got up and grabbed his weapon and knocked everyone to the ground with one swing. Cissnei, Jonas, Tifa and Yuffie were sent tumbling towards the very mouth of the volcano as Aeris fell almost on top of Zack. Yuffie's foot was trapped under someone but she finally spotted the materia behind her head next to a rock, just out of her reach. She turned and lunged for it as Aeris desperately tried to shield Zack's body with her own, with Cloud raising the massive sword high above his target for the finish.


	11. Hold on

"Yuffie! Now!" Tifa screeched.

"Hiyah!" From her back Yuffie grabbed the Jayne materia and cast the counter-spell on Cloud before he could strike. His blade smacked against the ground harmlessly as the force of the spell knocked him down onto his knees. He looked up as the orange Kuzar glow drained rapidly from his eyes. His expression was vacant as he slowly stood up, hardly even knowing where he was. He looked down at the sword that was still in his right hand, as if he hadn't the slightest idea how it had gotten there.

_Where'd all this blood come from? Why…why is everybody staring at me like that? _Cloud wondered as he looked around, trying to get his bearings. Thenhe saw Zack lying motionless beside Aeris and froze. He looked from his weapon to his friend, his mouth open in horror. He didn't have to ask — he knew. _Oh fuck._

Cloud's fingers slowly uncurled from the hilt of his sword and the weapon clattered to the ground. Shaking his head in disbelief he stared at his hands, as if he wished they were someone else's. He looked back up at his friends—though, were they still his friends? He could only imagine what he was in their eyes now. Jonas, Cissnei and Yuffie were all looking up at him warily, as if still making sure that the spell had left him; Tifa's look contained a touch of sympathy for him. And Aeris — Cloud couldn't look at Aeris.

But she had nothing more to say to him. The spell and the look of terror that had been on her face as she had hovered over Zack moments before melted away, and she collapsed exhaustedly onto his chest. She felt utterly spent, virtually numb. A lone tear escaped from her eyelashes and settled into the fibers of his blood-soaked shirt. The others slowly stood up and continued to watch silently, awkwardly.

"A-Aeris?"

"Yes Cloud?" Aeris said, turning to look up at him. But the baffled look on his face told her that the voice wasn't his.

"Aeris…? That you?" She snapped her head back around and her heart leapt.

"Zack…" she squeaked out.

A smile crawled across Zack's blood-spattered face at the sight of her expression. They both choked out a laugh in spite of themselves as he brushed her tear away. "Come 'ere you," he mumbled, embracing her. Aeris settled into him as he gently pressed her body against his. She didn't care how much blood he was getting on her. He didn't care how much weight she was putting on his chest. Just holding Aeris again was making him ache a little less. Just having Zack's arms around her was making Aeris feel safe. Sighs of exhaustion left their lips as their eyes fell shut. Just as it was starting to look as if separating them might have to involve a crowbar, the thunderous sound of propellers was heard as the _Shera_ came up behind where the others were standing.

"Git yer asses in here! She's gonna blow!" came the sudden shout from Cid. Everyone turned to look up and saw the pink sky.

"Sunset! Crap!" Yuffie cried, clamping her hands on her head. In all the excitement no one had noticed that the sun was sinking—and the lava was rising.

"Let's go!" urged Tifa, grabbing Yuffie by the arm.

"Uh, why don't you guys go ahead and I'll catch up? Maybe I could just, uh, _run_ down the mountain? Like really fast?" Yuffie said hopefully.

"Just take deep breaths, Yuffie," Tifa said, rolling her eyes in frustration at her soon-to-be-airsick friend as she pulled her towards the ship.

Aeris sat up and Zack tried to. "Cloud can you help me with him?" she asked. Cloud came quickly.

"Better just get yourself in, Aeris," he replied, crouching down to take her place "You don't look so good either." She gave a nod and drew away. "Jonas, give me a hand here." The ex-cadet scampered over and he and Cloud helped Zack up to the ship as fast as they could as the ground started to shake and rumble beneath them. Once inside they laid him up against a wall beside Aeris. Jonas climbed back out to help Cissnei gather the weapons while Cloud stayed behind, standing over his two friends, this time with no intentions of slicing them in half. "Zack, I'm so sorry..." Cloud said, shaking his head, his face still chalk-white. "I had no idea that I…that I…"

"Forget it, Cloud," Zack said weakly. "I'm sure I would've…done the same to you."

"Aeris just about did it for you anyway," said Tifa to Zack, tongue-in-cheek.

"Wait, what? You beat up Spiky? And I missed it?" Zack said, turning to Aeris.

"Er…I guess, sort of" she replied uneasily, as Cloud's face turned red with embarrassment.

"Hey, don't be modest," Tifa went on, "you might've killed him if I hadn't pulled you off." Zack threw his head back and laughed; he was starting to feel better already.

Meanwhile Jonas and Cissnei quickly loaded in the swords and shurikens and climbed into the aircraft, with Cid immediately pulling away. Suddenly a bullet grazed Cissnei's leg and she yelped as her feet were taken out from under her and she fell from the edge. Jonas dove and snatched her wrist at the last second, as he was the closest person to her. Everyone looked down to see the forgotten Alex standing below, shooting up at them. He had stumbled out of the cave, with blood on his arms and face and still with a somewhat-deranged look in his eyes. Alex laughed as Jonas and Cissnei dangled helplessly above the rising lava, trying to dodge his bullets. Then suddenly the STORM commander stowed his gun, leapt into the air and grabbed onto Cissnei's legs. She cried out again as her body was wrenched in two opposite directions. Jonas' arm was ready to rip out of its socket as he was suddenly forced to hold the weight of two people.

"So you killed George and were just gonna leave me to die, huh?" Alex said accusingly. He grabbed onto her, practically using her as a ladder to get to the ship.

_Hold on…hold on, dammit…_ Jonas thought to himself, keeping a vice-grip on her arm. Finally Alex swung himself aboard the ship.

"And for what," Alex went on, "this little punk?" Suddenly he drew his pistol again and put it to Jonas' head. "Drop her," he ordered. "Drop her if you want to live." Jonas froze, feeling the cold metal through his orange curls. "You're running out of time, you know. That volcano's going to erupt. You wouldn't want six people to die because one man did something stupid, would you?" He abruptly shot Jonas in the shoulder, causing him to grimace in pain and nearly let go. "Don't be stupid, boy..." Alex bullied him.

"Alex, don't!" cried Cissnei from below. "This has nothing to do with him, or with any of them. This is between you and me, you know that!"

"Well it might have something to do with them if you don't let go…" Alex said to Jonas smoothly, putting the gun against his head again. "Drop the little lady and maybe you and your friends get out of here alive."

"Let go, Jonas," said Cissnei finally. A deer-in-the-headlights look crossed Jonas' face. Had she seriously just said that?

"I'm telling you, you keep her around long enough and she'll stab you in the back and leave you to rot," said Alex. "A little traitor, that's all she is. She's not worth it boy, she's not worth a thing!"

Jonas was furious—he couldn't possibly give up now. Instead of letting go he tightened his grip on Cissnei's arm, and with all his remaining strength he swung her back up over his head. At that moment the lava exploded forth from the volcano.

"SHIT!" Cid gave his wheel an extremely sharp turn to avoid the blast. Alex gave a shout as he was pitched out of the ship, his gun going off. Everyone else was hurled to the other end of the cabin, hitting the side and falling back to the floor in a heap. "Talk about your goddamn turbulence," the pilot grumbled as he attempted to right the ship. "Everybody in? Anyone hurt?" he asked, almost more out of curiosity than concern.

"No more than before," muttered Zack as the group started to untangle themselves.

"Not _you_, dumbass. Shut up and don't fuckin' die over there. This is an airship, not a goddamn hearse, ya hear?"

"Aye aye, Cap'n," Zack replied with a mock salute. "Shutting up and not dying." Aeris chuckled again and Cloud rolled his eyes.

Cissnei glanced around as everyone tried to get their bearings, and saw Jonas flat on his back with some blood on the side of his head from where Alex's last bullet had caught him. She quickly crawled over.

"Jonas…? Jonas!" she cried, shaking his shoulder.

"Unnh?" he let out a little moan as he stirred.

"Are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah it's uh… just a scratch," he replied, holding his head.

"I'm sorry you all had to be dragged into this," Cissnei murmured, mostly to Jonas. "I guess Alex just totally lost it at the end. He was—"

"An asshole," Cid broke in. "And this ship doesn't take assholes."

"Pretty much," said Cissnei with a smirk. "But Jonas…why?" she asked softly.

Jonas hesitated before replying. Really he had only grabbed her out of reflex, hadn't he? He would have done the same for anyone else…right? No, there was something more, something more to it than that. That was why he hadn't let go, even when his arm had felt like it was going to fall off. That was why he hadn't let go, even when Alex had offered to let his other friends live if he did. Even Cissnei had been willing to take that offer. But what Alex had said had replaced the fear in Jonas' eyes with a flame of rage. He hadn't felt that way since he found out that his older brother had died in a Shinra experiment gone wrong. Few times in Jonas' life had he ever felt that way, in fact. He was brought out of his thoughts as he realized that Cissnei was still waiting for an answer. But how could he tell her any of this? Surely she would only laugh at him...

"I mean, you could've been killed, y-you didn't have t…" she stammered, shaking her head. Finally Jonas decided to use some words that that brother had given him, long ago.

"Well," Jonas said awkwardly, propping himself up on his elbows and staring at the floor, "that brother that I had that I told you about, who was in SOLDIER…he once told me that a true soldier never leaves another one behind." He looked back up at Cissnei shyly as he finished, and got a small, satisfied smile in return. Jonas felt as if he had passed that little test for sure. But then Zack had to pipe up.

"Try again, Jonas!"

Jonas froze. Zack had put him on the spot and was clearly loving every minute of it. Again Cissnei looked at Jonas expectantly. "Well…the truth is…Cissnei…I did." he said.

"Huh?"

"I did…have to. I was afraid of losing you," he admitted. "And then when Alex said you weren't worth anything…" he went on, shaking his head slowly, "i-it just hit me like a truck."

"Really…?"

"Yeah…"

"I don't know how you held on after he shot you," Cissnei added sympathetically. "I mean, your arm must have been screaming." Jonas sat all the way up and took her hand in his, looking her in the eye.

"I guess my heart was screaming louder," he said quietly.

That did it.

A lump rose in Cissnei's throat as she put her other hand on his shoulder. "Oh…Jonas…"

"Score," whispered Zack with a mischievous grin. Aeris gave him a friendly poke and a look that said 'You're hopeless'. Cissnei and Jonas closed their eyes and both leaned forward, their lips less than an inch away from each other.

Again Cid broke the silence. "If everyone's done schmoozin', let's get the fuck outta here."


End file.
